Oh yes ... familiar with all. Brings back memories of freezing my arse off
twice, for some reason only beknownst to the gawds I attend in the winter
months both times. I remember one:

I'm an airborne ranger
live a life of death and danger
if I die on the ole drop zone
box me up and send me home
if I die on the Russian front
bury me deep in a Russian c%$t

I've seen books and tapes that illustrate these very well.

At 12:33 PM 02/17/96 -0800, Judith M S Pine wrote:>It seems to me that a lot of social commentary goes on in some Jodies.>>From my own service (Army, 85-89), one that particularly comes to mind>was a marching Jody that included the following:>>used to drive a Cadillac>Now I pack it on my back>used to drive a Chevrolet>now I'm marching every day>Mama, mama can't you see>what the Army's done to me>>Used to wear my old blue jeans>Now I'm wearing Army greens ...(memory fails here, but the "mama, mama>refrain continues throughout)>******************************************************>>There was also a Jody with the refrain "Jody's got your girl and gone",>referring to the stay behind enjoying all the things the soldier has>lost. And another which comments on what you do have:>>They say that in the Army the pay is mighty fine>they give you a hundred dollars, and take back 99>>oh lord I wanna go, but they won't let me go, oh lord I wanna go home>>They say that in the Army, the food is mighty fine>a biscuit fell off the table and killed a friend of mine>(alternatively "a chicken jumped off the table and started marking time")>>oh lord ....>>**************************************************>> Sometimes, Jody is constructed as a bad influence, a civilian with whom>the soldier still has contact. I have a rather vague recollection of a>Jody in which the soldier confesses to having been down by the railroad>tracks smoking dope or drinking whisky with Jody. Anyone out there>remember that one?>> I'm familiar with the jodie about killing the little yellow bird, and a>couple which are directed against/construct enemies. Some still in use>about "commie Cong", despite being hopelessly out of date. The soldiers>singing are fully aware of the dissonance between what they're singing>and current reality, which in a lot of ways makes the continued>popularity of these jodies scarier. Since I was doing most of this>singing in a Combat Support unit, not an actual Combat Arms unit, the use>of fight-and-kill sorts of jodies seems less about being able to do what>you sing and more about being part of the overall organization. I think>that most jodies are developed in Combat Arms units and then filter down>to the CS and CSS units, where they are sometimes revised and adapted and>sometimes simply sung as recieved.>>(For non-vets, the Army divides itself into three sorts of unit -- Combat>Arms, which is the folks who actually fight; Combat Support, which>are resources used to do this fighting, in my case that wonderful>oxymoron Military Intelligence; and Combat Service Support, who>provide the "beans and bullets", and other logistic support for the first>two sorts of unit. Not a lot of space for "females" in the Combat Arms,>which is also the place where promotion is fastest and goes farthest.)>> Finally, as I sit here in a damp and grey Seattle, I find myself>thinking about a Jody with the line "In the early morning rain". Again,>I can't produce the text, but the subject matter was the individual's>experience of combat, and creates the sense of being trapped in the>role of a killer. It seems to me that Jodies are a very complex>discourse between soldiers and the service, and among soldiers themselves.>They may have originated as a form of resistance, but they have been>incorporated into daily life, and into standard training, and made>acceptable. That does not mean that the subaltern have been silenced. I>remember hearing about some "women's" versions of jodies, developed in>response to some of the more explicit men's versions. Never got to sing them>in a mixed unit, and I _know_ there are some men's versions I was never>allowed to hear due to my gender. I imagine, though, that some of these>jodies will gradually creep into general usage, and gradually shift the>discourse to be more inclusive of women as soldiers, rather than just>civilians.>> Gosh, I just wrote "just civilians", and I've been one for quite a bit>now. Foucault know whereof he wrote, I have been shaped and molded.>Still sing jodies to myself, especially when I run. From a functionalist>perspective, jodies help me ignore the pain in my knees and shins, and I>have a feeling a lot of soldiers use them this way.>>Forgive my rambling.>>Judy Pine>Anth grad>>

thank you for your time and space ... respectfully submitted,

Anthony Dean Dauer

"We have met the enemy, and he is us." Walt Kelly (1913-1973), Pogo

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